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Local musician Kelly McFarling wrote her song “Atlanta” as an ode to her hometown, but she didn’t write it – or any other song, as a matter of fact – until she settled into her current home in San Francisco. In this edition of Bay Area Beats, McFarling tells KALW’s Martina Castro why she credits San Francisco with helping her launch her musical career, and better understanding the idea of home.

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KELLY MCFARLING: I have always had a really hard time leaving home because home is so wonderful and because I had such … you know, a lot of people are like, “Oh, I left home when I was 18 because my parents were all messed up, and I had this terrible thing…”

But I’m so the opposite. I had this amazing experience growing up. I have this wonderful family that is really close to me, and there’s a lot of love and a lot of support. So there’s always this kind of hard, letting-go feeling of, “Why am I leaving home? Is it always going to feel like this whenever I leave home?” Every time I move forward or grow, it’s going to feel like leaving home a little bit more which is always a little bit sad. It’s like the whole lost childhood thing.

My friends and I used to joke about how the big tragedy in my life is that I’m never going to be able to be like a little kid again. But it is! I think it’s the tragedy in a lot of people’s lives. But for me, it just feels like a pretty obvious thing and the leaving home really represents that.

When I moved here I didn’t know anybody, really, and I think that was a big thing for me. I knew a few people kind of on the fringe, but I didn’t have a community, I didn’t have a network. So I started going to this Hotel Utah open mic … That was a big, key moment for me, because it was the first place I performed in front of people with a banjo by myself. It was the very first time ever that I did that. And I remember that I did it because I was trying to impress this dude who had invited me to the open mic. I had told him that I was a singer-songwriter, a musician, you know, and I totally wasn’t yet! I hadn’t done anything.

But he said, “Oh, you’re a musician? Cool. Let’s go to this open mic together.” He invited me to this open mic and we went to this open mic, and I was like, well, now I have to learn some songs, since I’ve lied to this dude.

So I did a cover song that first night and it was a really amazing night because people were really supportive and encouraging. They were like, “Wow, that was so good! Who are you? Where are you from? You’re awesome. Please come back!” So I really found this haven at the Hotel Utah. It gave me an excuse to have a new song every week.

The song “Perspective” is a very specific San Francisco song. Just the literal ability to have different perspectives, because it’s this very small, contained city, but I could see the whole city from different angles and it got me thinking about different ways to look at people, different ways to look at your path in a certain place.

The line about “some are putting down roots and some are just passing through” was about the people I was meeting in San Francisco. A lot of them are very transient. The perspective of this city is changing by the day.

I loved this place from the beginning and that’s why I continue to love it. There’s such a great community of musicians and it’s really supportive and inspiring. One of the other really big things about San Francisco and the Bay Area that I love is the playfulness of it. I love that this city has five different excuses in the month of October to have a big citywide party and dress up in costumes and act like children. I love seeing people reclaiming that sense of playfulness and joy.

So, yeah, I feel like I have put down a lot of substantial roots here in San Francisco. It definitely feels like home and like I’ve built a home here. The people here are the thing has solidified the home-ness of it. Yeah, it’s a great place.

See Kelly McFarling perform tomorrow night at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco.

Some of us listen to that one favorite song over and over again. And some of us scour the world over for new music. Well, if you want to broaden your horizons, all you need to do is tune in to AllDayPlay.fm from Oakland’s Youth Radio. It’s a streaming station DJ’d by local artists, musicians, and music lovers. All Day Play editor Brandon McFarland joined KALW News’ Holly Kernan to discuss what’s on his playlist this week.

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HOLLY KERNAN: And first off, let’s talk about big news last week, which was that Troy Davis was executed in Georgia. I’m wondering, how did the hip hop community react or mobilize around that?

BRANDON MCFARLAND: That was my big question after the execution. There was a lot of comments on Twitter before, and almost to the last minute, and after the execution from this one artist named Killer Mike who had a really compelling speech that was really moving. Not much else out of Twitter banter from the entire hip-hop community.

KERNAN: And did that surprise you?

MCFARLAND: It did. I would have liked to have seen a benefit concert or at least more coverage through proper news channels, but you know Twitter is where breaking news happens these days.

KERNAN: And so many prominent people, politicians included, argued that Troy Davis should have a new trial and Davis maintained his innocence until he was executed on September 21st last week.

MCFARLAND: I think over this year we’ve seen a lot of racism happen. I would just really like for hip-hop to make a united front to bring some awareness to it, similar to how we did in the ‘90s after the riots in L.A. Or even further back in the ‘60s and ‘70s where wars were happening and the music was sort of a center to bring communities together, to bring America together.

KERNAN: And, Brandon, there’s a big movement to stop the death penalty, or at least to place a moratorium on these executions. Is there music that is happening around that movement?

MCFARLAND: Yeah. There are hip-hop songs floating around the blogosphere, but they aren’t from artists who have that voice, have that star power to really grab the masses of people. They’re sort of like independent artists, making songs and making YouTube videos about, you know, Troy Davis and other issues. But we don’t see the Lil Waynes out there. We don’t see the stars. And I would like to see that.

KILLER MIKE (from Troy Davis execution protest rally): I’m angry. It’s unfair that my grandfather was born in 1922, my father was a former police officer born in 1955, and the story that they tell me about the police brutalizing black men in 1933, ‘43, ‘53, ‘63, ‘73, ‘83, ‘93, 2003 and will be 2013 – until we stand up and say enough is enough…

MCFARLAND: And he was really very passionate about it. And you don’t see that a lot in rappers. They usually play it pretty cool, but you can tell that he’s very emotional because it’s his hometown. And the South in general had to experience racism at a level that I, being from California, or, say, a person being from New York, doesn’t really get to experience on a day-to-day basis.

KERNAN: So what other trends are you following this week, Brandon? Maybe in a little lighter news.

MCFARLAND: I definitely was trying to recap some of my favorite albums this summer, as we’re wrapping up the summer, and one of the standout records was this bassist turned producer-singer by the name of Stephen Bruner. He’s played with a bunch of jazz bands. Erykah Badu is probably one of the most noted that he’s played with. He put out an album with producer Flying Lotus, out of L.A. And it’s just an awesome jazz album. I think I fell in love with jazz all over again listening to this because it sort of teeters on electro-pop. So it’s electro-pop meets John Coltrane or Herbie Hancock. In general, I think that it’s a time right now where a bunch of artists are experimenting and collaborating with each other and it’s really a great time for music.

KERNAN: And finally, can you give us some sort of shout out to a band locally. Something we should know about that’s happening here in the Bay Area?

MCFARLAND: Definitely. There’s a duo from Oakland, California named Main Attractions who are one of those artists that are just experimenting a lot and mixing genres. This is like a mix of rap music and I would say indie rock almost. And electro-pop. It’s a genre mix of the both.